GERMANY/INTERNATIONAL. Digital ancillary services company Omnevo has announced a partnership with inflight digitalisation specialist airfree.
The tie-up will enable Omnevo’s omnichannel platform to reach the passenger in the aircraft cabin in an environment which is traditionally restricted by low connectivity. The solution can be applied to any wifi-enabled aircraft.
“With the traditional inflight revenue model in continuous decline and incapable of delivering today’s customer needs, this expansion of the Omnevo platform to 30,000 feet delivers the in-seat digital experience that every passenger wants and the inflight revenue opportunity that every airline needs” – Omnevo Founder Kian Gould
AOE-owned Omnevo said this “has long been the most coveted yet under-exploited revenue opportunity in travel retail”, and greatly increases the ability of airlines to build revenues.
Overcoming longstanding technical barriers, airfree’s semi-embedded technology enables airlines to update the content of their servers before every flight, thereby reducing satellite connection costs and optimising bandwidth usage (whereby live inflight connectivity need only be utilised during the checkout phase). This ensures a fast, smooth and seamless experience for passengers, Omnevo said.
Airfree’s onboard technology creates a ground-to-air service offering a rapid, connected shopping experience with an intuitive, responsive front-end design adapted for both IFE (inflight entertainment) screens and personal devices.
Additional features that airlines can incorporate include smart management of the product catalogue, with route-based personalisation, real time stock, price and promotion updates, multi-language and currency management and online payment. Every purchase is trackable by shoppers through their account.
The first rollout of the new joint platform has been launched with Singapore Airlines (SIA) in collaboration with KrisShop, SIA’s flagship retailer, and is being expanded across the airline’s Thales-enabled Airbus A350 fleet.
SIA passengers gain inflight ‘live’ access to KrisShop’s offerings, with a curated selection of over 4,000 products ranging from beauty and fragrances to electronics and liquor, as well as exclusive KrisShop and SIA merchandise.
This is supported by convenient delivery options, including to passenger’s homes almost anywhere in the world, as well as to upcoming SIA flights.
Omnevo’s inflight expansion of its single-platform strategy through airfree’s onboard expertise now provides an inter-connected, uninterrupted customer experience across the whole passenger journey.
The extended reach of the Omnevo platform now enables customer engagement at any journey point, including pre-order, inflight shopping, post-flight and loyalty shopping as part of a single, cohesive shopping and entertainment inflight experience.
Omnevo CEO Michael Raasch said: “As airlines seek to recover from the greatest revenue crisis in aviation history, the inflight revenue opportunity has been revolutionised through a powerful, proven path to higher revenue.
“With this newly expanded platform for KrisShop, we have demonstrated how leading airlines can bridge the industry’s pivotal gap in the targeting of the inflight customer by placing the digital shopping experience right in front of them, in the seatback.”
Airfree CEO Etienne de Verdelhan said: “Airfree’s expertise in optimising the inflight shopping experience through our unique and innovative technology, combined with Omnevo strong ground-based ecommerce solution, provides all the necessary tools for airlines willing to develop their own ecommerce offer.
“Together with IFEC partners, Airfree’s technical solution enables airlines to overcome all the challenges to providing a home-style shopping experience in the highly constrained environment of the aircraft cabin.”
Omnevo Founder Kian Gould said: “With the traditional inflight revenue model in continuous decline and incapable of delivering today’s customer needs, this expansion of the Omnevo platform to 30,000 feet delivers the in-seat digital experience that every passenger wants and the inflight revenue opportunity that every airline needs.”
